Partial Summary:

Overdone fic, I know. Esme and Carlisle adopt one/several kid(s). I just loved the plot, and had to do my own. Hopefully an original spin. Includes all main characters (Bella eventually) and all human. Full summary inside.

Full summary:

When Esme and Carlisle's request to adopt is approved, they visit the orphanage, and immediately fall in love with Alice McCarty. Deciding to adopt her, they find the problem that she comes with a brother, Emmett. They agree to take on both children, but find out about Edward, the much older brother. When they hear of the children's dark past, will they still take them on? Or will they turn to the much easier alternative of a different child?

Okay, we all saw that one coming. They adopt the McCarty children, but Edward is far too ill to be moved. Sitting at his bedside one day, Esme hears fragments of a conversation through his dreams. She pesters him for the full story. Horrified by what she hears, she begins a battle to show the three kids, and their best friends (the Hale twins) that life is worth living.

EsmePOV

I smiled as I smoothed the wrinkles off the blue duvet. The ocean themed bedroom was very cute in my opinion, and I almost hoped for a boy so we could use it. Of course, the pink, princess themed bedroom across the hall was just as sweet. No, I wasn't expecting, I was adopting. Carlisle and I had been talking for months, and had finally decided that on the eight of may, we would visit the orphanage. That was today. We had booked an appointment, for an hour away.

We wanted a child aged between one and nine. We doubted a child any older would like the rooms we had decorated. I had started painting in early April, and the last of the furniture had arrived last week. I was so excited, but a little nervous as well. What if the child had a difficult past and hated me? What if I just wasn't cut out to be a mother? What if they hurt themselves? What if our adoption request got turned down last minute? What if I just couldn't connect with the child?

'Esme, honey?' Carlisle called from downstairs. 'We have to leave in twenty minutes; it's a half hour drive. Do you want any brunch before we go?'

'It's only eleven. No thanks.' I was panicking, and Carlisle could hear it in my voice.

'Come downstairs, sweetie.' Taking a deep breath, I descended to the ground level. Our house was rather small, it contained a kitchen, lounge, family room, dining room, four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, other rooms down.

As I reached the lounge Carlisle smiled, and we spent a minute simply staring into each others eyes, before Carlisle's phone rang. Carlisle worked at the local hospital from seven am till six pm, Mondays to Fridays. He was on call occasionally, but specialised more in scheduled operations then emergency surgery. I was an interior designer, and worked Tuesday to Friday, nine am to three pm. I figured these were good hours for parents, and I could always drop my job if we adopted a child to young for school. A shrill ringing sound cut me out of my thoughts.

'Hello? Carlisle Cullen speaking.' Carlisle answered his phone. There was a pause. 'No, I don't know a Martha. No. No. Maybe. No… Martha Bronson doesn't ring a bell… No. Yes, I think you have the wrong number.'

Carlisle sighed, and shook his head. 'Third wrong number this week. Anyway, speaking of phones, do you want to call anyone?'

The sound of his voice had calmed me, and I sat down, thinking. 'Yes,' I decided finally. 'My mom, Eileen, and my sister.'

He dialled a number quickly before handing me the phone.

'Hello?' A familiar voice said. 'This is Eileen Platt.'

'Hey, Mom. It's me, Esme.'

'Esme! Sweetheart, it's been weeks since you last called. Why now?'

'Today's the day!' I squealed. 'May the eighth.'

'Esme! Oh, congratulations. Honey, where are you?'

'At home. We're just about to leave. I'm going to call Sarah first.'

'Well, when you get home I want to hear all the details… and I expect photos by next week.'

'Yes, mom. Of course, mom.'

'Well, good luck.'

'Thanks. Talk to you later.'

'Bye.'

She hung up, and I phoned my sister Sarah.

'Sarah!'

'May-may!'

'Esme.' I corrected. I had outgrown that nickname years ago, but my younger sister insisted on addressing me as 'May –May.'

'Yeah, anyway, are you a parent yet?'

'No. I'm just going to leave in ten minutes, but I called mom, and I'm calling you now.'

'Good. Did you want a boy or a girl?'

'Either.'

'Both?'

I paused. 'Maybe twins, but I only want one child for now. I can always go back next year.'

'Right.' Sarah said. 'True.'

'I've got to go, Sarah, but say hi to John for me.'

'Will do. Hey, John doesn't know you're adopting.'

'You didn't tell your husband?'

'No. I'll tell him now. You say hi to Carlisle.'

'Okay. Well, see you next time I'm in New York.'

'Nah... if you have kids, I'll be the one visiting you.'

'I suppose.'

'Bye, Esme. Good luck.'

'Thanks. Goodbye.'

And that was that. After fidgeting for a while I turned to Carlisle. 'When can we go?'

'Five minutes, love.'

'We should go now.'

'We'll be fifteen minutes early, Esme.'

'Carparks. Maps. Getting lost. Carlisle-'

'Okay, okay. Do you want to drive?'

'No, I'm too nervous.'

'I'll drive.'

'Captain obvious.' I muttered.

'You calm down, Esme.' He continued, apparently not hearing me.

'I can't!' I wailed in response.

The drive passed in silence. Carlisle was right, we were quite early. We parked opposite the address, and stared at it for a while. All I could see was an unsealed drive and a rather dingy cottage.

'Honey, are you sure this is the address?' I asked.

'Yes. It was the address Emma sent us.' Emma was the young woman who was helping us to adopt a child. She was our saviour. The system was just so confusing.

'Okay then. Let's go look.'

'I feel rather nervous myself.' Carlisle admitted.

We climbed out of the car, and were greeted by the unmistakable sound of children screaming. I smiled anxiously. As we crossed the road, I spotted a sign.

Phillip Clive Adoption, Foster and Child Welfare Centre. RECEPTION

This was it. Carlisle took my hand and we followed the direction the sign pointed, past the front door, to the right and down a little path. A small one room building stood there. I knocked. Then I looked up at Carlisle who was smiling at me.

'Hello?' A middle aged woman poked her head out of the door. 'Ah, Mr and Mrs Cullen?'

'Yes.' We answered together.

'Do follow me.'

She led us into a small building, which had a divider down the middle. On one side was a desk and two chairs, and the other simply had a circle of chairs. We were in the desk-less room. A young man was sitting on one of the chairs with a clipboard, flipping through paperwork.

'My name is Antonia,' the woman introduced herself. 'And this is Harold Parker; he grew up here since he was four.'

I blinked. 'Um, my name is Esme. This is my husband, Carlisle…'

'Esme.' She said. 'Carlisle. Well, I have to go see to the children's lunches. Amy, our cook, always forgets something. Harold will look after you.'

Harold smiled at us, and explained the children's timetable. He said that if we didn't find anyone here, that was okay. We could always foster, go somewhere else, or come back later. He finished by explaining that today, Saturday, was their play day. 'But they have lunch at twelve, so you have about half an hour. Then come back here, and we'll talk. Then you can go out for another hour. We'll see what happens.'

I smiled.

'Would you like a tour?' Harold asked.

'No thanks.' Carlisle said. 'Unless you want one, Esme.'

'No. But could we have a map, and a list of the kids' names?'

'Sure. There a sixteen kids here at the moment.' He handed me the clipboard.

The list said:

------

Eliza Afern (9)

Arthur Bennet (6)

Millie Bennet (6)

Jasmine Claude (7)

Joshua Hampton (8)

Emily Hampton (5)

Andrea Isle (11)

Freya Jason (9)

Kyle Lambert (13)

Alice McCarty (3)

Emmett McCarty (7)

Thomas Prayer (5)

Emma Rose Raeburn (8)

Ferdinand Raeburn (4)

Briana West (4)

Annette Young (13)

Children On Foster Rotation

Anna Cyder (7)

Verity Everett (4)

Jasper Hale (7)

Rosalie Hale (7)

Alexander King (12)

Children Recently Adopted

Chelsea August/White (5)

------

Pinned in the corner of the clipboard was a map. Carlisle and I followed it back out the front of the cottage. We had come from the right of the front door, and to the left was a small lawn, perhaps the size of the average kitchen. Five children were playing what looked like a game of tag. All the girls were wearing yellow dresses, and the boys dark blue or grey suits. They looked so cute. As soon as they saw us, the children waved. One of the three girls came up to me, but the other kids held back.

'Hello.' She said. 'My name is Eliza Afern. I'm nine. I've been here for four years.'

'Hello Eliza.' I replied. She was very cute, tall for her age, but slender. She had long blonde hair, fair skin and big blue eyes. She was wearing a blue headband. 'Will you introduce me to your friends?'

'Yes, of course. The youngest girl with blonde hair, her name is Briana. The other girl, with dark hair, is Jasmine. She's seven. The boys are Thomas Prayer and Nigel. Nigel is Amy's son. Amy's our cook. Nigel's ten. He isn't up for adoption. What are your names, Miss?'

'Oh, I'm Mrs Cullen, and this is my husband, Mr Cullen. You can call me Esme, dear.'

'Thank you, Mrs Cullen. Thank you, Mr Cullen.'

From here on the lawn you could see a second building attached to the cottage. On the map it said: Dining Room and Playroom. Hospital Wing upstairs.

'Eliza, where are the rest of the children?'

'In the playroom, most likely. It was nice meeting you, Mrs Cullen.'

'Esme,' I corrected absently. 'It was good to meet you, too.'

Carlisle took my hand and we ambled over to the door to the second building. Two little children stopped us when we were a few metres away. The kids were holding hands. The girl fiddled with her vivid yellow dress. The boy sniffed and smeared something sticky on his glasses. 'My name is Arthur, Arthur Bennet. Who are you? Why are you here?'

'My name is Mrs Cullen, Arthur. Who is your friend?'

'I'm Millie Bennet.' The girl said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. 'Arthur is my twin brother.'

'You haven't told us why you're here.' Arthur complained loudly.

'I'm an adoptive parent. I'm looking for a child to adopt.'

The boy's attitude changed completely. 'I'm Arthur, ma'am. I'm six years old. Last year my parents abandoned me in a shopping mall carpark. They left me with Millie and our older brother, David. David got hit by a car and died. All I have left is Millie. Please help us. Be our new parents. Please.'

'You go play with Eliza and um Jasmine and Nigel and er, the others and Carlisle and I will discuss it.' I replied uncertainly. 'You too, Millie.'

When the kids had gone, I turned to Carlisle. 'Well, Millie was sweet, I liked her.'

Carlisle finished for me. 'But that Arthur was a terrible child, and as they probably come as a pair they are out of the question. I thought Eliza was nice, as was Briana and Thomas. I wasn't so sure about Jasmine. I think she tripped Nigel up.'

'I didn't see.' I said, surprised. Jasmine, from a first impression, didn't seem nasty. 'But I agree with you about Eliza. Nice girl. A little old though, perhaps. But if we don't find another child…'

'Let's go look. We only have fifteen minutes before the children's lunchtime.' He tugged me towards the small door, and into a hall.

We wandered past a barely furnished dining room where two children were setting the table. They were wearing the same clothes as the children we encountered outside, but with jumpers with their names sewn on them. One was Annette Young, and the other Kyle Lambert. According to our list, both kids were thirteen. As they were out of our age preference, we didn't stop to chat.

A door by the end of the hall showed a tiny room were two girls were reading. We went in. The younger girl bounded to her feet, and beamed at us. 'My name's Emma Rose, I'm eight. I can read chapter books! Look, this one is two hundred and seventeen pages long!'

'Wow, Emma. That's… wonderful.'

'Thank you…' She faltered, and stared at me anxiously.

'Esme.' I supplied.

'Esme. Thank you, but I'm not half as good as Andrea here. Her book is- how long is your book, Angie?'

'Four hundred and, um, twelve pages.'

'Four hundred and twelve pages!' Emma Rose repeated, smiling at Carlisle. 'Amazing!'

Emma had mousy brown hair, a freckled nose and cute grin. She was quite short for eight, and stocky. I looked at Andrea briefly. She was also stocky, but much taller. She looked more like a teenager then eleven. Her short, bitten nails had flaking purple nail polish, and her long hair was swept up in a ponytail. She put down 'Vengeance of the Fallen part 3' and smiled sadly at me. 'I'm Andrea Natasha, but the younger kids call me Angie, and the staff call me Natasha.'

'Which do you prefer?' Carlisle asked.

'I like my real name better, Andrea.'

'Andrea it is.' I said. 'How long have you been here?' Her smile disappeared, and a thoughtful frown replaced it. She wasn't upset by my question, but I wished I hadn't asked.

'My mother died six years ago, and my father was sent to jail when I was six months old. He was caught stealing a crib for me. My older brother was adopted eight months ago, but we keep in touch. I might go live with him when he turns eighteen. I'll be allowed, it's in two years.'

'Well, Andrea, it was pleasant meeting you. You too, Emma Rose. Bye!' I said.

'Bub bye, Esme.' Emma Rose said. 'Bub bye Mr. Esme.'

I smirked at this and Carlisle laughed. 'Bye, Emma, goodbye Andrea.'

We left the miniscule bookroom, and walked to the playroom. A young girl tripped over and crashed into Carlisle as we entered. 'Oh, sorry!' she gasped, scrambling to her feet and raking her hand through her blonde hair. 'I'm Phillipa Jason, nine years old.' She pulled at the sleeve of her pale yellow dress.

'Phillipa?' I asked, confused as I flicked through the list of names. 'Jason, you say?'

'Oh.' The girl said, looking at my clipboard. 'I'll be down as Freya, but my middle name is nicer. I think so, anyway. Joshua likes Freya more.'

We smiled at her, and scanned the rest of the room. A burly child was playing with a slimmer boy. A few other children sat around the playroom. The girl noticed us looking. 'That's Joshua there,' she whispered. 'Not the strong one, the older boy with reddy brown hair.'

I grinned at Carlisle. 'Who are the kids playing the board game?' I queried.

'Oh, Ferdy and Emily. Joshua's sister and Ferdinand, who arrived as a baby three and a half years ago. You might have met Emma Rose. Ferdy's her brother.'

'Ah.'

'Now, thank you, but if you don't mind I'm going to go play monopoly with Emily and Ferdy. Bye!'

'Bye Phillipa.' I said.

Just then a little girl toddled across the room, squealing with delight. She fell onto her bottom on the carpet about a metre in front of us, and stared at us with wide eyes. I couldn't believe she hadn't been adopted yet, she was adorable!

'Hello, my name ith Awice.' She said, lisping slightly. 'Who you?'

'I'm Esme,' I said, leaning over and picking her up. 'This is Carlisle.'

'Carwhile.' She said stretching out from me and patting his nose. 'Me Awice.'

'Hello, Alice.' Carlisle said. He and I exchanged a glance that seemed to say it all.

'Alice Cullen has a nice ring to it,' I whispered leaning towards my husband.

'Mmm.' He replied.

Suddenly, the boy who had been playing with Joshua walked over. 'Are you taking my baby sister away?' He asked sadly. 'Please don't.'

I froze, and, handing Alice to Carlisle, scanned the list on the clipboard. Sure enough, right under Alice McCarty (3) was Emmett McCarty (7).

'Um,' Carlisle said to Emmett. 'We wouldn't separate siblings…'

'Then why have you got Alice?' Emmett said, looking a little confused. I looked at Carlisle, and our glance seemed to say it all. We have two bedrooms. Emmett is seven, young enough to be in our age range…

'Well, dear. We can adopt more then one child.' Carlisle said.

'Oh!' Emmett exclaimed, his eyes widening. 'Wow.'

'Would-would you like- would you like to-' The sentence got caught in my throat. 'Emmett, would you like to come with us?'

He sighed wistfully. 'Yes, I would… but I can't, I couldn't.'

'Why not?' I asked, confused.

'My brother,' he said simply. 'I couldn't leave him.'

000

Author's Note.

Did you like the first chapter? By the way, Esme and Carlisle are twenty seven; Edward is fifteen, Emmett seven and Alice three. Rosalie and Jasper are seven.

Lots of dialogue, I know. I'll try and cut down on that in future chapters.

Review if you liked!